When I moved to the City of Detroit in 1996 one of the first things I got to do was visit Tiger Stadium off of Trumbull and Michigan Ave…   It was late August and the Tigers were on pace to win 53 games out of 162 that season and I thought to myself, “well, it couldn’t get worse than this right?”

I was wrong.   The Tigers never sniffed a .500 season while I lived there and I recall the Tigers only getting 43 wins one year….

What amazed me thru all that losing however was how much people in the city loved the Tigers.  I spent a number of years in kitchens, sign shops and cubicles where people had afternoon Tiger games on small radio’s not so much to hear the game but to hear the voice of the man who painted the picture.

Ernie Harwell.

His voice was unlike any other and I will never forget what it was like to hear his voice during a lunch break or a drive home in the summer.  He made all of those losses seem like they didn’t matter.

I wish I could describe how much it hurt to see the Tigers get to the Series to face the Cardinals in 2006.  I had left Detroit the fall before and I’ll never forget where I was when I saw the Tigers hand the Yankees their ass in the opening round only to celebrate by Drinking openly with the crowd in attendance.

A man in the stadium had a sign that read something in effect “Fly back home for this!”  It was personalized for someone else, but I seriously considered going back after seeing that sign.

I had the privilege of seeing both the Red Wings and Pistons win championships while living there but it wouldn’t touch what a World Series would have meant to that city…

Earlier this year I had planned to get Fin and I some Tigers hats so that we could have something to wear to a local Missions game.  We even talked about going to Arlington or Houston to see a MLB game.

I’m going to make it a point to do it now…  not for the game but to honor Harwell in some strange way.

What does an unguarded case of beer + R.E.M.’s  Automatic For the People + internet proposition bets equal?  Like sound advice to take if you read this early enough in the morning to contact your local bookie thats what.

The big game is tomorrow night… my plans to watch Super Bowl 44 have sorta gone up in smoke.  I have a standing invite to head out to Donald’s place to watch the game but I’m not really sure if I’m up for the drive across town when I could just as easily get bombed at home and watch it in HD and pee freely in the backyard with Elliot.

Pulled up Bodog.com today just to see what the lines have settled in at and here are my picks…

Spread :  Colts (-6, -115) / Saints (+6, -105)

If you were lucky enough to pick up the Colts spread at -3 or -4  points, you gotta really like those odds.  I see the Colts covering that easy…  I’m not however recommending that you pick them up giving 6 or 5.5 where the line appears to be on Super Bowl eve.

Verdict : Sucks Wang

Money Line : Colts (-180) / Saints (+160)

I’ve been listening to sports podcasts all week and I’ve heard the money line at -220 for the Colts and it sounded like that was a sound bet.   If you can get the Colts tonight at -180, Super Bowl eve : me thinks that the one you gotta run with.  If you’re looking to cheer the Saints on, I’ve seen the Colts +185 on a few sites.

Verdict : Rocks Wang

Over/Under : 56 1/2  (-110)

Not a big fan of placing Over/Under bets…  If this moves up more than an point, I would seriously consider the under.  I have a feeling that the public money will go on the over, with people betting with their hearts (not heads) on seeing a shoot out.

Verdict : Stay Away  (Saint fans should bet the over… If you’re betting Saints +6, go whole hog and get the over)

Will a member of the WHO smash a guitar on the stage :  +155

I just saw that this prop bet has closed to betting…  My guess is that someone bothered to look up when Pete smashed a guitar on stage and put this line at a tasty +155.  I once saw Pete get mad, when asked why he smashed guitars.  He said something to the effect that he was setting them free… that the instruments failed him in one way or another.  I’m feeling pretty good that he’s gonna smash the shit out of something.

Verdict : If you put down a hundred on this, I’m thinking you’re about to make the easiest 155 of your life .

Over/Under, How long will it take Carrie Underwood to sing the National Anthem? :  1 minute 42 seconds (+135 on the under)

I’ve made a small killing betting the under on the national anthem against my family in recent years but I don’t recall one being this close to the 1:40 mark…

Verdict : Stay Away

What Color will the Gatorade be that is dumped on the Head Coach of the Winning Super Bowl Team?

There’s a number of colors to choose from… I’m not going to list them because its silly for the most part but I wanted to share two colors and odds that I think are pretty tasty.

Verdict : If you’re wagering on this, you seriously have a problem…. You gotta love  11/2 odds on Orange Gatorade.

With Fin at work doing her night shift tonight…  I got a chance to ride the couch with both Toby and Elliot and watched the Cowboys playoff game against the Eagles.   I was a little worried about them playing Philly and trying to get a win for a third time this season – but I just had a good feeling about this game.  It felt like the team was built to beat the Eagles and they just happened to have enough injuries to make the Wild Card Game an easy win.

Next week – Minnesota.

Spending some quality time with my father this afternoon…  which translates into he and I lazly laying about watching the Duke/Georgetown game and him switiching back over to CNN so that he can follow his man crush (Obama) across the east cost.

Watching the Duke/Hoyas game has been a real treat.  I recall my dad liking coach Thomson’s Georgetown teams in the 80′s… which sorta translated into me liking them.  My allegence however switched over to Duke as soon as I heard their mascot was a “Blue Devil”.  The merging of the dark prince and my favorite color made sense.

But I digress…  my dad was thilled to see G’Town ranked as high as they were and he sat back talking a little smack.

38.2 seconds are left on the clock and the Hoyas have cut the lead down to 5.

I just asked my dad if he think’s they’re going to pull it off…   he’s sound asleep gripping the TV remote.   It must be awesome being in your 70′s.   He has his son and his pets…  as much as he wanted to see the game, it doesn’t really matter much.  He’s happy to just have his family at home and you can see that.

Duke just streatched the lead back to 9 with 15.4 seconds left.

They will wind down the clock with a 76 to 67 victory and a 16-1 record.  Oh shit.  My dad just woke up.  He’s changed the channel back to Obama on CNN.   I need to dig some books out I brought over to the valley to read.

photo taken off of an AP wire

Attended the San Antonio Rampage (Hockey) home opener last night… made some new friends while at the game too boot.

The Rampage lost the game by 2 goals but they showed some good spunk and stood up to the Milwaukee Admirals when the two teams squared up for a few scrums.

Highly recommend it for anyone interested in catching hockey in person.

Finished reading a book the other day called Boys Will Be Boys: the Glory Days and Party Nights of the Dallas Cowboys Dynasty.

A book that wouldn’t be of much interest to anyone who isn’t interested in Sports… but its a must read for anyone who Loves/Hates the Dallas Cowboys.

A number of excerpts appeared on some sport blogs a few months ago and that peaked my interest enough to go out and pick up the book for myself.

For Cowboy fans out there… this book will give you a good look at what transpired between Jerry and Jimmy and their building of a dynasty.

You’ll learn a lot about players and people whom were instrumental in making that team in the Mid 90′s into the greatest football team of the modern era. Its scary to think what could have happened had Jimmy stayed one more year… or if his replacement was a competent person and more importantly if Jerry Jones would have drafted better after the team was picked apart by free-agency.

The team easily left 2 Super Bowl titles on the table in the 1990′s.

The book also has a number of saucy stories regarding the off field antics. It doesn’t read like a Penthouse forum tho’. Its scant on a lot of details.. you do however have a lot of people on the record saying that it “was crazy”.

Just wrapped up my participation in this years online draft for Fantasy Football…   I turned in a rather disapointing season last year but I credit that to being unprepared and having a number of “sleeper” risks not paying off in the long run.

Me thinks however that his year will be Different for the Paris Texans.  My goal as always is to win the silly thing… but regaining the Pistol Cup from Nano will make this year a lot sweeter!

Just saw a report this evening that I was one of possibly a BILLION people who watched the USA vs China basketball game this morning.   I don’t know where that ranks among *most viewed* TV events but I’m pretty sure that it’s right above Charles/Diana wedding and the moon-landing.

It was also pretty cool to see the urgency between a democratic country (United States) and a communist one (China).   It sorta brought back memories of what it felt like to watch stuff in the 80′s.

The team looked pretty good also.  They won by 30 plus points and I’m thinking they should be able to get into the Gold Medal game with ease.   The US basketball troubles in recent years has been insanely upsetting for me.  I don’t watch basketball all that much… but I happen to know that there’s no fucking way we should be loosing a game when we have stud players in the 7-12 spot of the bench.

No joke…. the olympics in HD rocks vicious wang.   I got to wake up to this.

While walking Elliot this evening, I realized that my father and I may have another opportunity tomorrow to see Tiger Woods win his 14th Major Tournament win.   To put that in some perspective to people who may not know much about Golf…   If you can win 2 Major titles in a life long career – then you’re considered a really good golfer.  Tiger Woods is second to only one other person and they have 18 titles.   A number that many thought would be unmatched.

But enough about the history of golf…   With it being fathers day weekend, I’ve had an opportunity to really sit back and unwind with my father over the extended break.  By unwind… I mean running errands around town together, doing some yard work and watching Sports on TV.

 I’m pretty fortunate to have solid relationship with my dad.  I can pretty much talk to him about anything on my mind…  but we rarely talk about anything serious because he’s a “man’s-man” and he’d be quick to point out that its not cool to yack it up like a couple of yentas.  But I digress…

I’ve spent an unusual amount of time on the couch this weekend, next to my father watching Tiger Woods on TV.  Admittedly… me watching televised sports on the couch isn’t all that unusual.  Me watching golf on TV sorta is.

Unlike other major sports (football, baseball, basketball, hockey sorta) I really couldn’t get into watching golf with my father.  Admittedly…  he’s sorta odd to watching sporting events with.  He really disliked me asking questions during sporting events and he really disliked me making uniformed comments of any kind.  Needless to say, I spent a lot of weekends watching sporting events from my room – while he watched the same sporting event in the living room.

Back to Golf… specifically Tiger Woods.   Woods mania sorta hit in the late 90′s while I was off at college.   My father loved everything about Tiger Woods from the very beginning.  He especially loved how close Tiger was to his father… as luck would have it the Masters occur just after my dad’s birthday so its sorta tradition for us to watch it on TV when its on.

In 1997, my father and I saw Tiger Woods not only win the Masters (his first Major) but he did so by slaying the field by 12 strokes.   Its really rare for my father to show disbelief of any kind… and I think it has a lot to do with him being in his 70′s.  

I wish I could describe the joy my father gets when he sees Tiger Woods play.   He’s the only athlete I’ve ever seen him fawn over obsessively… maybe with the exception of Willie Mays.

Anyhoo… tomorrow, I may get to see Tiger win another Major Championship and I’ll get to watch him possibly win another one next to my father. 

How awesome is that.